Keeley Stahlhammer

The guys at Keeley have unknowingly created one of the best drive pedals for horns...at least in our opinion. Based on the LM1458 (a Texas Instruments designed amplifier), this two-mode pedal gives you a wonderful range of tonal control and a wide sweep of applicable gain settings. This pedal can make you sound super hardcore or just give you a little push. If you need a pedal that looks and sounds badass, this is your pedal.

External Control: NoneCost: $

HornFX Review

Interface: 4.5/5A wonderfully laid out pedal. Follows the schematic of just the type of drive/distortion pedal we like. Total tonal control. The other added benefit is the gain switch on the side that allows to you change the saturation of the pedal. Its only drawback is that it can be hard to get to and flip.

Versatility: 4/5With so much tonal control, and the various gain settings, this pedal can do the slightest of pushing with clean overdrive or turn you into a crazy distortion machine, and hit every point in between well.

Tonal Reproduction: 4.5/5The Stahlhammer reproduces your tone beautifully. It takes very little messing around with the tonal control to find the sound you want. This is truly one of the best drive pedals that we have seen when it comes to tonal reproduction and clarity.

Complexity: Simple

Live application: 4/5This is an almost ideal pedal for live use. The three EQ controls make you able to sound however you want while giving you the ability to address feedback issues. Its various gain settings allow you to change the texture of your overdrive nicely. A more accessible gain switch would be an improvement.

Interface

Versatility

Tonal Reproduction

Live Application

Total Score

4.5/5

4/5

4.5/5

4/5

17/20

Product Information

Tube Amp Eq

Bass – This is for your low end response, around 100Hz and lower.

Middle – This affects frequencies from 800Hz to about 1.6KHz. You can heavily scoop out the mids, or push them to really stand out!

Treble – This is to roll of treble or push upper frequencies around 3.2KHz and higher.

Gain Switch – Two modes of distortion are available from switch mounted on the right hand side of the pedal.

Switch UP – Tube Amp Crunch. Just like your three channel amp’s Crunch Channel – LED lights up and is actually part of the clipping circuit.

Switch DOWN – Lead Mode. This is like your amp’s Lead Channel – LED does not light, higher gain, more saturation.